


Years Gone and Years to Come

by LoveOn_970



Series: Flash Family Saga [2]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, Family, Fluff and Angst, Hope, Love, Nostalgia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2016-05-15
Packaged: 2018-06-08 13:02:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6855787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoveOn_970/pseuds/LoveOn_970
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Caitlin contemplates her life so far and dreams about her future, especially with the addition of her and Barry's five month old baby.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Years Gone and Years to Come

**Author's Note:**

> Okay...so the song "7 Years" by Lukas Graham made so many feelings come up for me, and those emotions inspired me to write this one-shot. 
> 
> ***I DO NOT OWN THE LYRICS TO "7 Years" BY LUKAS GRAHAM NOR DO I OWN THE CHARACTERS FROM "The Flash".  
> Also, majority of this story will be about Caitlin's life

      Caitlin Snow was never one to believe in destiny; if she did, her husband Bartholomew Henry Allen wouldn't have married her. If she believed in destiny, she wouldn't be the proud and nurturing mother of their five month old baby. It was around 9:30 on a warm summer night, and little Victoria was fast asleep. Caitlin liked to watch the baby fall asleep, it was one of the most beautiful things she's ever witnessed in her life. Her husband's shift at CCPD was supposed to be over within 30 minutes, so Caitlin decided to stay up and wait for him. How did she manage to get so lucky in life? How did she marry the man she loved and start her family? With the way Caitlin's life was before she met Barry was nothing but nightmarish.

      **_Once I was seven years old,_**

**_My mama told me_ **

**_Go make yourself some friends_ **

**_Or you'll be lonely_ **

**_Once I was seven years old_ **

Caitlin Snow was always bullied as kid, damn near until she turned 19. The other kids never really understood her or her intellect. They ridiculed her love for science, calling her a nerd or "The friendless Freak" just because she'd rather spend her recess in the science lab conducting experiments rather than play freeze tag. No one ever understood her. At school, she was the intelligent, anti social outcast that no one wanted to know.

     At school, Caitlin thought of herself of the most mature and the smartest person, capable of doing anything she wanted if she put her mind to it. But deep, deep down, she was hurting. She longed for a friend; she wanted someone to laugh with, someone to see who she really was and accept her for her. But that didn't happen for a long, long time.

     And that's the way it was for most of Caitlin Snow's life.

* * *

* * *

 

 

     At home, her parents could see Caitlin hide the pain of being lonely behind a mask of smiles and the repeated sentence of "Everything's Great". They knew. They knew she was shunned by her peers; they knew everyone thought she was different. They knew she wanted friends, but no one wanted to be her friend. They saw how the kids treated her, but Caitlin never cried or became angry. She kept those feelings inside, never exposed, never shown.

    Her emotionless demeanor helped her build ice cold defenses around her heart, so she would never get hurt by anyone in any way. 

**_Once I was twenty years old,_**

**_My story got told_ **

**_Before the morning, when life was lonely_ **

**_Once I was twenty years old_ **

     Years later, when she was about 27, Caitlin finally found an outlet. She finally found a place where her intellect and talents would be welcomed instead of dismissed: S.T.A.R. Labs. The facility was looking for a bio engineer, so she applied. This was her dream profession, to have her ideas actually become a reality and her scientific aspirations become what she did for a living. She was truly a talented woman in the field of science, and Dr. Harrison Wells took notice of this. After deeming her as overly qualified, Harrison offered her a job at S.T.A.R. Labs. Caitlin was ecstatic, to say the least. Maybe her obtaining this job was life's way of giving her some genuine happiness.

     Her getting the job wasn't pure coincidence, either. Harrison needed another bio engineer to help him with his particle accelerator project. This accelerator was going to revolutionize Central City in more ways than anyone could comprehend. Hell, this thing was going to change the very field of science. Caitlin felt honored that she was considered smart enough to help revolutionize the scientific field.

    There was also another plus side to this: S.T.A.R. Labs was the place where she met her late fiance, Ronnie Raymond.

    He was the structural engineer for the accelerator, or as he liked to joke:

    "I'm basically just a high maintenance plumber."

    Ronnie understood Caitlin. He admired her intelligence, her charisma and her beauty. For the first time in over two decades, Caitlin finally left her walls crumble. She felt safe with Ronnie. She felt safe at S.T.A.R. Labs. Caitlin couldn't believe her life had turned out to be so great.

    What she truly couldn't believe was when Ronnie proposed to her at Niagara Falls. Caitlin's life was starting to come together. It was so much like a dream, her life couldn't get any better.

    What Caitlin didn't know was that all in one night, her life would become nothing but hellish.

**_I only see my goals,_**

**_I don't believe in failure_ **

    It was a December night in 2013, and the citizens of Central City were about to witness the particle accelerator turn on. And things were going according to plan for about 45 minutes. It wasn't until a thunderstorm passing above Central City caused everything to go to hell. The machine began to malfunction, and Ronnie had to go and check on the interior of it.

    "Cait. I have to go."

    Those would be his final words to her. 10 minutes after he had gone, the machine exploded, releasing dark matter into the air, changing to he city forever.

    Caitlin raced down to the Pipeline, and called out for him repeatedly. No response ever came.

* * *

* * *

 

    All in one night, Caitlin lost her reputation, her fiance, and a chunk of her sanity.

    She turned into a heavy drinker, always drinking wine or vodka or tequila. Any form of hard liquor that would numb the pain of losing her would be husband. What hurt even more was that there were no physical remains to actually mourn. Caitlin turned into a very bitter and indifferent woman. Especially when she walked into S.T.A.R. Labs one month after the explosion.

    She looked at her boss, Harrison Wells, now plagued with paralysis and wheelchair bound and her best friend, Francisco Ramon (better known as Cisco). She looked over at the comatose body behind them. It was a young man, about her age.

    "Who is this?"

    Harrison did not hesitate in his reply, "This, my dear Dr. Snow, is Mr. Barry Allen. He was put into a coma after last month's particle accelerator explosion and may have been exposed to the dark matter energy that radiated the entire city."

   "What does that have to do with us?"

   Cisco shifted his feet and crossed his arms before quietly saying, "We promised his family that we could save him. The EKG's at the hospital kept giving him the flat line. But they were just too slow to detect his heartbeat. We have the technology to save him."

   Saving. No one saved Ronnie, no one saved her  _dead_ fiance, so why should see save a man she barely knows? She felt uncontrollable anger swell inside her chest. she huffed and agreed to watching over this Barry Allen.

    She watched over him and kept tabs on him for eight months. In the middle of the ninth month, Caitlin was by herself in the lab, running tests. She looked over at Barry, lying there not moving a muscle with his shallow breathing. What she did next, well, it was LONG overdue, in her case.

  She slammed her beaker onto the floor, smashing it to a million pieces and she growled menacingly.

   "Why is it that you get to live?! My fiance Ronnie should be the one in the coma! He was a hero! He saved this freaking city, and what did it cost him? His life! Why do you get to live, and he had to die?! Sometimes...I wish it were you that had died."

    Caitlin felt hot tears fall down her cheeks, but she was too angry, too hurt to wipe them away. Caitlin did something she rarely ever did: she sobbed. She felt vulnerable.

    And she couldn't have cared less.

* * *

* * *

 

   The next month was hectic for Caitlin. Barry Allen had woken up, and it was discovered that he had obtained superhuman speed.

   Harrison wanted to administer tests to see how developed Barry skills were. When Caitlin was handing him his helmet and programming the speedometer to his chest, she felt him staring at her.

   "What?"

   "Nothing. I just noticed you don't smile too much."

    Caitlin looked at Barry, and found his big green orbs staring straight into her brown ones, waiting for a response. He was intrigued by her.

    "My once promising career in bio engineering is over, my boss is stuck in a wheelchair for life, and the explosion that put you in a coma also killed my fiance. So this blank expression kinda feels like the way to go."

    If only she knew that conversation would lead to a newer, more purposeful life.

    After years and years of working together, Caitlin began to care for Barry. Maybe she was even in love with him, but she wouldn't admit to that. Especially since Iris West was in love with him.

    "On Earth-2 we're married. In the future we're supposedly married. I'm finally ready to move on, I just wonder if that should be with Barry. Do you believe in destiny, Caitlin?"

    "Maybe for you."

    After those words came out of her mouth, Caitlin felt defeated. What was her destiny? Who was she meant to be with? Caitlin took one last look to Barry and decided that he wasn't meant to be with her. 

    Or so she thought.

    _ **Soon we'll be thirty years old**_

_**I'm still learning about life,** _

_**My wife brought children for me,** _

_**So I can sing them my songs** _

_**And I can tell them stories** _

"Do you, Caitlin Snow, take Bartholomew Henry Allen to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

    Caitlin looked at them man before her. Here she was, with Barry Allen, the Flash. She had fallen in love with the Flash. Barry had defied his destiny and didn't end up with Iris. He had fallen out of love with her and in love with Caitlin. They had gone through so much loss in their lives, so much pain and hurt, that every time they consoled each other, their fondness and love for one another grew. They went from friends to significant other in about three years. And it all came together when Barry proposed to Caitlin...on her birthday.

    Caitlin smiled a huge smile and internally confirmed,  _"He's the man I want to grow old with. He's my bolt of lightning."_

"I do."

    "And do you, Bartholomew Henry Allen, take Caitlin Snow to be your lawfully wedded wife?" 

   Barry grinned at the woman before him. He had fallen in love with Caitlin Snow. Life wasn't about following a predetermined path; it was about following the path you make for yourself. And if that path involved Caitlin, he was willing to follow it. 

   "I do."

    Barry and Caitlin sneaked a glance to the audience. And they witnessed an ecstatic Iris and Scott, their wedding wedding set to be held in late August. Cisco and Joe were beaming with pride, and Felicity and Oliver looked joyous for the happy couple.

   "By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

   And with that, Barry swept Caitlin off of her feet and kissed her passionately on the lips. This is where they belonged, in each other embrace, now and always.

* * *

* * *

 

_**Soon I'll be sixty years old,** _

_**Will I think the world is cold** _

_**Or will I have lots of Children** _

_**Who will warm me?** _

_**Soon I'll be sixty years old** _

Here was Caitlin, watching her baby girl sleep, five years after the wedding. The baby was born on Mother's day, giving its father happier memories to associate with the day. She twisted her ring finger, reminding herself that her husband was going nowhere, he wasn't going to leave her. 

Just then, she heard keys turn downstairs and a familiar voice call out, "Cait, you still awake?"

Caitlin smiled to herself and stood up, ready to greet her husband. She took one last look at her daughter and walked out the room and downstairs.

When she entered the kitchen she saw her husband sitting in a chair with his eyes closed. She came behind him and rested her hands on his shoulders. "What are you thinking?"

 __ Barry opened his eyes and laughed quietly. He turned his head and kissed Caitlin on the lips. "Well, Mrs. Snow-Allen, if you must know. I was thinking about my beautiful baby girl and my adoring wife. And how I wouldn't give anything up to change that." 

   Caitlin came from behind him and sat at the table. 

   Barry took his wife's hands in his and started, "At work, I had to take a case where a father was murdered in a Gang shoot out. It got me thinking: "What if that was me that had died? What would that mean for Cait and Tori?" He squeezed her hands and continued. "So please listen to me when I say this Caitlin: I love you. You and Victoria are my world, my everything. I'm never going to leave you or hurt you. I want to grow old with you and watch our baby girl grow into the heroic speedster we know she's meant to be. Our future is bound to be a bright one, as long as we're together."

   Caitlin felt tears run down her cheeks as Barry cupped her face and kissed her slowly, savoring the kiss. When he pulled away, he whispered, "I love you so much, Caitlin."

   Caitlin stared at the man before her and repeated the words she says to him daily, "And I love you too, Barry."

   The next years would bring trials for the family, but Barry and Caitlin knew that they would overcome it.

   They were going to make it.

   They were going to be fine.

   And that's the way it is.

    

   


End file.
